[Diggers350] Tidal energy debut... and Trident subs/bombs

[Paul Mobbs]

On Fri, 2016-09-16 at 01:44 +0100, Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk [Diggers350] wrote:
> Fifty of these turbines and you have a Hinkley C


Sorry, it's not that simple.

The capacity factor (how much of the time it generates 
the power it says) of nuclear is about 80%. So Hinkley C's
3,200MWe capacity represents about 2560MWe on average.

The capacity factor of tidal steam turbines is about 60%,
so at 1.6MWe per turbine that's 0.96MWe on average.

Consequently you need (2560/.96) 2,667 tidal turbines to
create the same power.

That's still do-able, but it's about two and a half times
what you stated.

Parts of the Inner Hebrides, St. George's Channel and the 
English Channel also have good tidal stream potential.

...and still probably cheaper than new nuclear!


HOWEVER,

I don't think that's the Government's only concern 
here.

The existence of a large civil nuclear industry heavily 
subsidizes the costs of the Ministry of Defence in 
operating nuclear submarines and producing nuclear 
weapons.

Civil nuclear enables technicians to be trained at 
universities, uranium fuel and other components 
manufactured at UK plants, and radioactive waste to be 
processed/handled more easily and cheaply, than if the 
MoD had to pay for the entire infrastructure costs of 
Trident and other nuclear-related programmes.

At present the nuclear industry in Britain has about
20 years to live -- then it's just looking after the 
waste. Without the skills and facilities to support
nuclear power, Britain's "nuclear deterrent" would 
become unaffordable.

I think that reality also exercises political minds.


P.


-- 

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Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations 
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